3-pointers: Breaking down the Bulls’ victory

The Bulls improved to 25-18 with their road victory over the Cavaliers. Here are three observations.

Nikola Mirotic focused more on catch-and-shoot opportunities

After recent painful-to-watch performances, Mirotic said he needed to focus on making the game more simple, focusing on rebounding or taking easier shots to start. That’s what he did against the Cavaliers, finishing with six rebounds and taking the right shots.

“Niko came out and played his game,” Derrick Rose said. “Took the shots he was supposed to take. I loved that he was fighting on the boards and fighting as a big, really tussling with guys guarding people. He made some huge shots for us that gave us the comfortable lead.”

The struggling second-year forward has had strong games before, as he did with 17 points off the bench. Now, the key is for him to string together some strong games and show consistency.

The Bulls’ ball security was better

One night after gift-wrapping 26 points for the Celtics with 20 turnovers, the Bulls coughed up the ball just eight times. Reminding how dangerous the Cavaliers are in the open court, they scored 16 points off those miscues.

But overall, the Bulls took better care of the ball. And save for a stagnant stretch in the second half in which they routinely settled for jumpers, the ball and player movement was better as well.

Rose continued his attacking ways

Rose shot a brutal 5-for-21. But several of his misses hung on the rim and he took just one 3-pointer among his shots. Rose has been in attack mode for awhile and even with the low percentage, his ability to get to the rim bodes well for the Bulls.

“Missed a lot of layups, but I can’t do anything about that. I loved the way I was aggressive, getting into the lane, finding people,” Rose said. “It’s great to get a win, but at the same time we can’t be happy with this one win. We’ve got to continue to go and play hard and together.”

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